We DESTROYED this draft. My God.
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We DESTROYED this draft. My God.
CAW CAW!!!
-Founder and valuable member of the Caw Caw Boyz-
Congrats to the Pelicans on drafting E.J. Liddell, who I think will be an easy and obvious top-20 player in this draft class. An unreal second-round steal.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) June 24, 2022
Basketball.
Trajan Langdon said E.J. Liddell didn't make it to a workout in New Orleans because his team didn't think he'd be available at No. 41 and neither did the Pelicans. Said they were very happy to see he dropped to them.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) June 24, 2022
see spurs signed branham which is a good sign for us i think
Yes and I love it. This team finally has an identity and culture. Everyone is bought in 100%. It's a family more than a team now. And that makes me much more confident in our ability to develop these players as well.
Amazing what Griff, Lang and Co have done these last couple years.
It warms my heart that the Lakers passed on a guy at 35 who could immediately step in and be a rotation player for them in favor of one of the most raw players in the draft
Pure emotion. Earned it.@EasyE2432 | @ChrisHoltmann pic.twitter.com/9HRrw9nNpG
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) June 24, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etob...8UbdIg&index=4
I love this dude already.
Transcript of some of what Liddell says in that video:
How are you feeling?
''I'm just happy, that's my life I've been proving people wrong my whole entire life. THis isn't anything new, I've been proving people wrong my whole entire life and I'm gonna keep doing that till the day I'm gone. I'm happy they took a chance on me and I appreciate them for the opportunity.''
Tough waiting?
''For sure, I mean. . . it's the word 'potential' nowadays, I guess, but I know I did everything I could in my power. I went back to school, I worked, I got better, and if teams wanna pass up on me that's fine, I understand.''
Does it make it harder when your name pops up as best available to get passed on?
''It's not about what the scouts say it's about what head offices say and it's fine, I understand.''
You're going to the Nba, how about that?
''It's awesome. I've been dreaming about this for a long time and I'll keep getting better.''
Thoughts on the Pels specifically?
''They have a great young core, they've been working hard. I watched them last year against the Suns and they gave them a run, and I see they've got a lot of dogs on that team, so I see myself fitting in. I talked to the Pelicans a couple times actually, I did interviews with them in Chicago, so.''
I'm not sure if he's less talented than Keegan Murray, so let's just say that I hope there's no health redflag behind his fall.
I thought it was great we got to see the Schmitz videos this year because you get more of a sense for what these guys are like. Ahead of the draft I watched all of these videos and Dyson and EJ come across as two of the most mature and most thoughtful players in the draft, and you get the feel that they really love basketball. Great culture fits.
EJ was one of my favorite players in the entire draft. I thought ahead of time and still think he's as good a bet as anyone outside of the lottery to eventually be able to play high leverage minutes in the playoffs. You don't want to bet on anyone outside of the lottery to do that, but he has a great combination of 1-on-1 defense especially on stronger guys, rim protection and versatility, feel, and enough shooting to hold up offensively. Absolutely thrilled. Can't remember a draft pick outside of AD and Zion I was this surprised and happy about.
Last edited by Biasvasospasm; 06-24-2022 at 10:38 PM.
When I heard he was thought to go around 20, I thought oaky, I hope this is another Herb.
Cool little mini-documentary about EJ Liddell and his draft-day experience. It's about 25 minutes long, I haven't watched it start to finish but I watched the last 10 minutes or so which basically contains the actual draft itself and his experience immediately afterwards, and it's pretty good. Never seen anything quite so comprehensive so it's an intriguing look.
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